


You Light a Fire

by NightOwlFury



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Getting Together, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, M/M, POV Third Person, Post-Time Skip, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOwlFury/pseuds/NightOwlFury
Summary: “Dude are you blushing?” Hirugami started laughing loudly. “You are! Oh my god, I never thought I’d see the day!”“SHUT UP! I’M JUST OVERHEATED FROM THE MATCH!” Kourai shouted, slapping his hands over his cheeks in some wild attempt to hide his complexion.“Uh-huh.” Hirugami didn’t sound convinced, chuckling to himself under his breath. “Whatever you need to tell yourself~”
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Hoshiumi Kourai
Comments: 13
Kudos: 163





	You Light a Fire

**Author's Note:**

> ok i haven't written a fic in like... years, but i've come down with a case of hoshihina brainrot so I wrote this. uhhh yeah hope y'all enjoy! probably a lil ooc but shhh
> 
> content warning:  
> alcohol/drinking

Kourai hadn’t felt the sun in years.

That’s what it felt like, anyway. He never got the chance to prove himself in the face of a genuine competitor in his third year of high school like he wanted more than anything. More than a nightlight when his bedroom was pitch dark as a child. More than a popsicle on the hottest day of the year. Hell, more than winning nationals.

When Karasuno didn’t make it to nationals that year, Kourai had felt a twist in his stomach on hearing the news. It lasted no longer than a second, but it was enough to make his face contort in confusion and irritation.

Looking back, he played well that year, but something always felt off. That match in second year had sparked something in him, even if he didn’t know it, and the spark refused to be lit again. Kourai wondered, in the back of his mind, why that was. He chalked it up to the feeling of being truly challenged.

He would keep waiting. As long as it took.

Just two months shy of six years. Kourai’s eyes unfocused every time he thought of how long it took. Five years and ten months.

Their match reignited the spark in Kourai’s chest. What part? His heart? His soul? His spirit? All of it? It felt as though his whole body took flight. His blood rushed through his veins, his ears roared.

He played with an excitement and intent he hadn’t felt in five years and ten months.

Kourai’s team lost, in the end. That’s when he acknowledged that maybe this feeling was something more than being challenged. He lost – and obviously he would have preferred to win – but despite that, he could swear he had never felt happier.

Hinata was back in Japan, and he being the extroverted ball of energy that he (still) was, he always found time to get together with friends. Most of the time it was as a group, and Kageyama was – of course – always there. He wouldn’t admit it to Kourai, but Hinata was probably Kageyama’s best friend.

Kourai was surprised the first time Hinata invited him along to dinner with his friends. Kourai saw the mess of orange hair bob up to Kageyama after a practice match between the Jackals and the Adlers, coming to a stop in front of the setter and asking him to grab some food with his teammates. This wasn’t surprising, but when Kageyama accepted and Hinata grinned, Kourai’s eyes locked onto the blinding smile and the glue of his gaze started to dry.

“Ushijima-san! You should come too!” Hinata waved over to Ushijima, who was in the midst of slinging a towel around his neck. The spiker seemed to pause to consider, as though he were mentally checking his calendar, before nodding in agreement. The blinding smile returned, but Kourai’s eyes had never left its owner’s face as he stood to the side, water bottle halfway in his mouth.

A hand whacked Kourai upside the head gently, and he sputtered, bringing the water bottle down from his lips and snapping his eyes away from the shortest person in the room. He made to fix his assaulter with his deadliest glare, but faltered when he saw the smirk on his captain’s face.

“You should blink now and again, Hoshiumi,” Hirugami teased slyly. That smirk was mocking Kourai.

He opened his mouth to either give a snappy retort or ask what Hirugami was implying, he wasn’t sure yet, when that excitable voice called his name.

“Hoshiumi-san! What about you?”

Kourai’s undefined words died on his tongue and he turned from the smirking captain to Hinata, still standing by Kageyama and Ushijima so many feet away.

“HUH?” The response was louder than he intended it to be.

Hinata laughed and Kourai felt like he was feeling the beams of the sun again for the first time in years. “Do you want to grab dinner with the rest of us?”

Kourai blinked before grinning. “Count me in!”

Hinata grinned back. Kourai’s stomach flipped.

They ended up in a restaurant located just a ten-minute walk from the gym. Hinata’s teammates – Bokuto, Sakusa and Miya Atsumu – all joined along with Kageyama, Ushijima and Kourai himself. Everyone sat around a booth large enough for the seven of them, with Kourai on one end.

It was comfortable. Everyone spoke casually and with a familiarity borne of knowing each other for five-plus years. Sakusa and Miya bickered throughout the meal and kept giving each other unprompted looks of contempt, which everyone in the group quickly accepted as part of the dynamic.

Kourai sat listening to the conversation, piping in when he so desired and laughing whenever something humored him. He got sucked into the moment, even though in the back of his mind he knew something was tickling his brain.

“How are things with you, Hoshiumi-san?” Hinata questioned partway through the evening, when everyone was mostly focused on eating the food which had just been served.

Kourai gulped down his mouthful of noodles. “Good! My mom came down to visit last week!”

“Hoshiumi-san is pretty cool,” Kageyama added. “Some of us got to meet her when Hoshiumi-kun was showing her around.”

Ushijima nodded sagely. “She’s very pretty.”

Hinata’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ and Kourai narrowed his eyes at the response. “Huh!? Don’t believe me!?” He challenged, whipping out his phone.

Hinata tried to respond, starting to laugh and wave his hands in a placating gesture, but Kourai had already shoved a picture of his mom in the orange-headed boy’s face. It was a photo from when she came to visit. They had gotten a passerby to take it in front of a fountain. They were both grinning widely, his mom’s arm wrapped around his shoulder.

The beginnings of a laugh died in Hinata’s throat as his attention refocused, and Kourai almost regretted taking his phone out.

Hinata looked back at Kourai, smiling again. “She looks just like you, Hoshiumi-san!”

The others who had yet to meet Kourai’s mom leaned in around the phone to see, but Kourai’s gaze had steadied on Hinata. He could feel his face getting red. Why was his face getting red?

Miya snorted. “You’re basically a carbon copy of her but less pretty,” he snickered. Sakusa elbowed him.

“Hey!” Kourai’s phone disappeared into his pocket as quickly as it had emerged. He stuck his tongue out at Miya and stitched his eyebrows together in a nasty expression. “You calling me ugly, bastard?”

Miya shrugged amicably, popping a piece of sushi in his mouth.

Everyone laughed, and eventually Kourai couldn’t keep the chuckles from burbling out of his mouth too. He’d never really had a group of friends that could tease each other like this. There was Sachirou, but he was just one person. This was nice, Kourai thought.

But his eyes and ears always drifted back to one person. The one that had lit that spark in him all those years ago, and the one that had reignited it again.

As everyone talked and laughed and reminisced and looked to the future, Kourai’s senses were attuned to the heat of the sun which shown on him faintly from across the table.

The spark caught fire.

Somehow, Kourai and Hinata became close friends. Their personalities seemed to fit well together – Kourai being outspoken and confident encouraged Hinata’s ever-growing vim and ambition, and there was something about Hinata that made Kourai want to be even better. Something that made his stomach flip when Hinata laughed. Something that made him feel calmer when he needed to be. Stronger when he ought to be.

They took any chance they could to have practice matches against each other. Sometimes Kourai’s team won, sometimes Hinata’s. Every set made his blood rush like nothing else could.

It was on one of these days that Hinata invited Kourai to get a few drinks after practice.

“Like…alcohol?” Kourai raised an eyebrow teasingly, mildly surprised by the suggestion.

“Well yeah?” Hinata cocked his head to the side. “I’m not a _total_ health freak, y’know,” he grinned and jerked his thumb at his chest proudly. “A few drinks every now and again won’t slow me down.”

Kourai huffed, lips curled up into a smile he could never hide around his friend. “Ok, you’re on!”

“I’m on?! It wasn’t a challenge!”

“It is now!” The spark burned inside him.

Hinata laughed. “Ok ok, meet outside in 10?” He picked up his towel and turned toward the doors.

Kourai made to pick up his own things. “Yeah!”

The orange-haired spiker flashed a peace sign as he headed towards the changing rooms.

Kourai could feel the flame in his chest this time. Usually it encompassed his whole body, but it was focused in the space between his lungs this time. His heart picked up in speed and his blood seemed to sizzle. The flame didn’t hurt – far from it. It was the warmest and most exhilarating feeling he’d felt next to playing volleyball with Hinata.

He’d been standing hunched over his towel and water bottle for several moments, which is probably what prompted the slap to his back from the captain. “You good, Hoshiumi?”

Kourai coughed and stood straight, grumbling at the repeated attacks from Sachirou’s older brother, holding his bottle tight in his hand and tossing the towel over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good,” he muttered without meeting Hirugami’s eyes. Maybe if he didn’t, he wouldn’t notice–

“Dude are you blushing?” Hirugami started laughing loudly. “You are! Oh my god, I never thought I’d see the day!”

“SHUT UP! I’M JUST OVERHEATED FROM THE MATCH!” Kourai shouted, slapping his hands over his cheeks in some wild attempt to hide his complexion.

“Uh-huh.” Hirugami didn’t sound convinced, chuckling to himself under his breath. “Whatever you need to tell yourself~”

“What does that mean?!”

Hirugami hummed. “You’ll figure it out,” he offered, turning around to catch up with some of the others as they walked away, who were ignoring Kourai’s antics (as usual).

“Be fuckin’ easier if you just told me,” Kourai grumbled to himself as he gripped his bottle and turned to leave as well.

After getting cleaned up and changed, Kourai quickly gathered his bag and made his way to the entrance. Hinata was leaning against the wall on his phone, waiting for Kourai to appear. He looked up as the little giant approached. “Alright! Ready, Kourai-kun?”

Kourai fought hard to keep his eyes from blowing out and his cheeks from turning into tomatoes. “Yeah, sure…”

“Sorry, was that too casual?” Hinata rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I figured we’re friends now, so we might as well call each other by our names, but maybe it’s weird,” he admitted.

Kourai quickly shook his head. “No! It’s– fine.” He smiled at Hinata – no, Shouyou – as evidence. “Ah, right, so where are we headed Shouyou-kun~?” He emphasized the name teasingly, nudging the other’s shoulder.

Shouyou grinned, face suspiciously pink, and held up a finger. “Oh! There’s a bar not far from my place that I’ve been to a few times. It has food and stuff too, and it’s a pretty relaxed place!”

“Sounds good,” Kourai agreed.

It didn’t take too long to get there. They walked a few minutes, chatting about volleyball and teasing each other, before getting on the rail and making their way to Shouyou’s district.

As they sat on the train, Shouyou’s interest was piqued by Kourai’s phone as he slipped it out to check the time. “Is that your mom in the background?”

Kourai glanced at his lockscreen, remembering that he had it saved as a photo of his mom and him. “Yeah! It’s from a couple years ago,” he explained.

“Ohhh, you must be close,” Shouyou hummed, blinking at the image for another moment. “You know,” he looked back up Kourai. “Your mom really is very pretty!” He bared his teeth in a grin. “And you really do look just like her!”

Kourai stared. “Uh,” he mumbled, then paused. How was he supposed to respond to that? What the hell kind of a comment was that? “Thanks?”

“You don’t have to say it like a question, dope.” Shouyou’s gaze rested on Kourai’s face. The one that was probably starting to flush. Kourai cleared his throat and looked away.

In some show of fortune from the universe, it was at this point that the train arrived at their destination, and the two stood up to exit.

They walked the rest of the way to the bar in silence. The lack of conversation wasn’t awkward, but it meant that Kourai had no distraction from his racing thoughts. There was something on the brain’s equivalent to the tip of his tongue that he was trying to stitch together with all the little bits of information that stood out to him. The sensation of feeling the sun for the first time in years. The stomach twisting. The spark, which evolved into a flame. The roar of his blood rushing through his body and ears. Hirugami teasing and implying Kourai was lying to himself about something. ‘Kourai-kun.’ Shouyou saying he looks just like his (very pretty) mother.

“After you,” Shouyou said cheekily, holding the door of the bar open as he waited for Kourai to enter.

The corners of Kourai’s lips were playing upwards, so he flicked the orange-headed ball of energy between the eyes. “Shut up.”

The bar had a casual atmosphere. There were screens set up above the counter showing sports games and a few booths situated against the walls where friends and couples alike sat drinking and eating as they talked. It was fairly crowded and well-lit, giving it a lively and anticipatory aura.

Shouyou led him to the counter where they sat across from a bartender with a cheery smile. He ordered a cider for himself and turned to Kourai, prompting. “I’ll have a gin and tonic,” he said to the woman. She nodded and started preparing their drinks.

Kourai glanced around the bar. “Pretty cool place.” He leaned back on the chair, eyes coming back to focus on the spiker beside him. Shouyou gave him a small smile.

“Yeah. It’s usually a bit busy, but it’s almost like there’s more privacy in the crowd, y’know?”

“…Yeah, I get that.” Did he want them to have privacy? Kourai’s eyebrows drew a half-centimeter closer. After a beat of silence he spoke again. “So, I never really asked, but what was your motivation for taking up beach volleyball, really?” _Why’d you leave everyone and go halfway around the world?_ That question remained unsaid. _I was waiting_.

Shouyou tapped his chin in thought for a moment before his drink was placed in front of him, and he took it with a smile to the bartender. “…I think there were a couple reasons, to be honest.” He took a sip, eyes shifting to study Kourai’s expression. “The main reason was probably…I wanted to get better. I wanted to be able to do everything on court, be good at everything on court. Beach volleyball taught me how to do that a bit better. How to fight on my own if I need to.”

Kourai broke eye contact and turned to his own drink, holding it between his hands. He didn’t want Shouyou to see his face for some reason. “That makes sense.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Kourai’s gaze glued to the counter below, index finger tapping his glass involuntarily. He wasn’t sure if Shouyou was looking at him, or what his expression said if he was, but he didn’t really feel like checking. His stomach twisted and his throat tightened. More information. What was this reaction?

“I didn’t…” Shouyou’s voice sounded casual on the surface, but his pause and inhale revealed he felt otherwise. “Forget, you know.”

Kourai finally tilted his head toward the other, glancing at the bartender to make sure she wasn’t snooping. She was making drinks at the other end of the counter. “What?”

Shouyou ran a hand through his hair and laughed shortly. “I didn’t forget what you said. About like…waiting for me.”

Kourai’s ears roared and then lit on fire for good measure. “Oh, that,” he exhaled, trying to brush it off with a small wave. “That was ages ago. And besides, we got our rematch, and plenty more of ‘em on top of that.” He downed half his glass.

“True,” Shouyou hummed, taking another drink. “I felt a little bad, though. I wondered if you were still waiting.” He was peeking at Kourai’s face out of the corner of his eye, his cheeks tinted pink.

Kourai drank the rest of his gin and looked straight ahead, eyes on the glass bottles that were lined up across the counter in display. “You shouldn’t feel bad,” he tugged at the hair by his left ear nervously. “You left to get better. Besides, I would have clobbered you in a match if you hadn’t gotten better.” That was good. He was able to work around the implied question and save himself some serious embarrassment. Kourai grinned at Shouyou lazily, feeling the effects of the alcohol faster than he anticipated. His face was really hot.

Shouyou’s expression flickered a bit, in something Kourai might have identified as disappointment if he was in a better frame of mind. His face quickly shifted to one of mild offense, however. “Hey! Would not! Besides, I highly doubt that you’ve just been sitting on your ass all these years.”

They laughed. The tension was relieved, but Kourai still felt the flames licking his ears, and his stomach imploding every few moments.

The two had a few more drinks, and to say they got a little tipsy was a bit of an understatement. Kourai was never great at holding his liquor, so after the second drink he was pretty buzzed. Shouyou seemed to have a slightly greater tolerance, but after switching to a harder drink, he was giggling like a middle schooler on his third glass.

“In– in high school, in second year, there was this thing where–“ Shouyou giggled in anticipation of his own story. “We were practicing serves, and–“ He covered his mouth to stifle the laughs. “Kageyama hit a serve that went really long, and it was that point when the principal decided to show up, and the serve– it literally went _WOOSH_ right over his head and blew his fuckin– his fucking wig just flew off!” Shouyou’s eyes were screwed shut in laughter. “We de-wigged the principal like 7 times I swear! It was the funniest shit because Daichi used to freak out and make us apologize, but Chikara was so shocked he looked like he was about to drop dead.”

Kourai’s eyes watered and he wheezed out a laugh. “I’d’ve paid to see that,” he managed.

Shouyou continued to giggle, seemingly reliving the moment in his head. Kourai could listen to him laugh for hours. …Huh. He’d never thought that about his friends before. He didn’t want to watch Kageyama laugh for hours, although granted that might be a little disturbing. But not Sachirou, or anyone else he was close to.

As Kourai pondered, Shouyou’s giggles began to die down and he sighed happily. “Ah, this is fun,” he said softly, almost too quiet for Kourai to hear. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Kourai turned to down the last of his final drink.

“I think that’s probably enough drinks for me,” Kourai stated, moving to stand from the bar chair. He felt a bit dizzy as he stood on two legs, bringing a hand to his forehead. “Yeah definitely.”

Shouyou laughed and slid off of his own chair, pulling his wallet out of his pants pocket to foot the bill. Kourai blinked and took out his own wallet, determined to pay his share. “No way, I’m paying,” Shouyou demanded, slapping Kourai’s shoulder with his wallet lightly.

“HUH? Why, c’mon at least let me pay for mine–“

“Nope! It’s my treat.”

They stared at each other, neither backing down. It must’ve been a few minutes before Kourai relented. “Whatever, I’m paying next time,” he grumbled, pocketing his wallet and trying to keep his stomach from doing anything weird through sheer willpower. If he’d kept staring at Shouyou another second he might’ve lost the ability to hear, what with the roar of blood in his ears. He hated to lose, but the potential repercussions were too great to risk.

Shouyou grinned triumphantly and turned to pay the bill. Kourai moved toward the exit, moping. He almost made it out before Shouyou caught up.

“Hey! Planning on ditching me, huh?” Shouyou fake-pouted at the other as he jumped out in front of him right before he could open the glass door.

Kourai stuck out his tongue at him and pushed the door open, catching a face full of chilly Tokyo air as they walked outside. “Ugh.”

Shouyou breathed in deeply, spinning around. “It’s chilly!” He laughed lightly.

Kourai snickered. “Clearly,” he chuckled as he looked around, trying to remember which way he needed to go to get home. Was it–

“You should come to mine!”

Kourai stood still for a moment before turning to the other. “Wha-? Why?”

“‘Cuz it’s cold and I bet you’re too drunk to remember the way home anyway! You should just stay the night.” He said it as though it were a normal thing to offer your relatively new friend. Was it?

Kourai weighed the pros and cons. Well, he’d like to say he did, but in reality his mind was too much of a mess to be able to decipher them, so he just agreed.

It took them maybe five minutes to walk to Shouyou’s apartment. On the way up, they stood quietly in the elevator, Shouyou checking his phone and Kourai trying to calm his heart rate, which was abnormally high for a simple five-minute walk.

When Shouyou pulled out his keys to unlock the door to his apartment, it seemed to finally hit Kourai where he was, and he forced his face into as neutral of an expression as he could manage to hide his sudden deer-in-the-headlights demeanor.

The apartment was surprisingly clean and empty. “It’s not much, I know,” Shouyou began, flicking on the lights. “But I’m not here a ton and I never really got around to decorating or anything. Plus, who knows how long I’ll be here.”

Kourai’s stomach twisted again, this time more uncomfortable. “Right…”

Shouyou led him through the living space and to his bedroom. “I actually have a futon somewhere I think,” he muttered to himself, starting to dig through a closet beside the door. “Aha!”

Kourai glanced at the futon. “Oh, thanks.”

“I can use it if you’d rather have the bed. I usually get pretty mild hangovers so I should be fine in the morning,” Shouyou explained, eyeing Kourai for a response as he set up the futon beside the bed.

Kourai shrugged. “That’s alright, it’s your bed. I’ll be fine.”

Shouyou gave him a strange look as he turned away from the futon. “D’you get all subdued when you’re drunk or what?”

“No! I’m just tired!” Kourai responded indignantly, kicking him in the shin lightly. Well, it was more of a tap with the toe of his shoe.

Shouyou held up his hands in surrender, but smiled cheekily. “Okay okay, whatever you say Kourai-kun,” he giggled.

There was a beat as they both stood there, Kourai blinking dumbfoundedly and Shouyou looking at him curiously. Kourai tried to discreetly shake his head and opened his mouth to speak. “Uh, I guess we should get some rest…”

Shouyou seemed to realize something. “Oh!” He went back to his closet and pulled out some clothes: shorts and a simple t-shirt. He threw them to Kourai. “Here, you can wear this to sleep. The bathroom’s the door on the left across the hall.”

Kourai snatched the clothes out of the air and nodded. “Thanks,” he offered, and turned to find the bathroom to change.

It was where Shouyou said it was, and it was kind of cramped, but Kourai quickly changed out of his day clothes and into the more comfortable option. He took a piss and splashed some water on his face for good measure, hoping to fall asleep quickly (he could keep his thoughts at bay if he tried hard enough, right?), and left to return to the bedroom.

Stepping in, Kourai saw Shouyou sitting on the edge of his bed on his phone, already changed into another pair of shorts and a tank top. He looked up as the other entered. “Oh good, I drank so much, I need to piss so bad.” He stood up quickly and speed-walked past Kourai, who snickered at his friend’s behavior.

Kourai shuffled towards the futon, allowing himself to feel the effects of the alcohol as he fell down onto it and sighed into the pillow Shouyou had tossed at the end. He lay there silently, thoughts drifting back to that ever-present subject in the back of his mind: all these weird moments and reactions of his when it came to Shouyou.

In his stupor, his mind jumped around, considering every possibility, piecing together the implications of every significant piece of information. A thought jumped to the forefront of his mind. Could he…? _No_ , Kourai shook his head in the pillows. _That’s ridiculous_.

Shouyou’s footsteps sounded in the hall and Kourai could tell when he entered the room from the sounds and vibrations. His face was still buried in the pillow, which smelt a little like Shouyou – why was that relevant? – and he didn’t bother to look up as he heard the other pad over to the bed beside him. “You asleep already?”

Kourai grunted and shifted his head so it was turned toward Shouyou, peering up at his face illuminated by the light of the lamp on the bedside table. “Nuh,” he mumbled.

Shouyou huffed out a laugh. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed, eyes on his lap, where he held his hands. He picked at his fingernails. Kourai watched. It was silent for a minute.

“I… thought about you, sometimes,” Shouyou admitted hesitantly. “When I was in Brazil.”

Kourai’s eyes locked onto the face above him and he moved to sit up slowly.

“I mean–! I thought about lots of people back home, especially my friends from school, but…” Shouyou was avoiding eye contact. “I dunno, I thought about you a lot too.”

Oh. _Oh_. Kourai felt his face heat up and his stomach flip again. Maybe that thought from before wasn’t so ridiculous.

“I thought about you too,” Kourai said quietly, glancing up at the other to see he had a dark blush painting his cheeks as well. “I don’t blame you for leaving.” He looked away. “But…I was still waiting.”

There was a shifting sound, and Kourai risked a peek back at Shouyou. He had moved to lie on his stomach with his face partially hidden behind his forearms, which were crossed in front of him. His eyes were still visible though, and they were staring a hole through Kourai’s own. Kourai felt as though he was seventeen again, looking up at the middle blocker staring down at him. His chest burned.

“Good,” Shouyou mumbled, eyes unblinking as he seemed to be calculating his next move. 

_Yeah_ , Kourai thought, _I have a crush on him_. It’s actually the farthest thing from ridiculous. _Wow, I’m dense_.

Apparently he voiced that last part aloud, because Shouyou cocked his head, eyebrows furrowed. “Huh?”

“I’m so dense,” Kourai repeated, and took a deep breath. “I– uh, I think–“ his ears burned, his chest burned, his face burned. It was like he had ventured too near the sun. “Well–“

Shouyou waited patiently, but there was a glint in his eye that was so aggravatingly cute that Kourai groaned. “You’re fucking cute,” he blurted out defeatedly.

Kourai sighed and closed his eyes in embarrassment. That was eloquent. Shouyou’s giggles forced his eyes open again and he saw the younger spiker trying to quell his laughter with a hand over his mouth. Kourai couldn’t even bring himself to be irritated at the other’s reaction to his unfortunate choice of words, because Shouyou’s laughing made his stomach flip and his expression soften. He really could watch him laugh for hours. Days, maybe.

Shouyou quieted his chuckles after a few seconds. “S-sorry, I just, I dunno, that’s not what I was expecting.” He glanced at Kourai and gave him a wide smile, eyes shut.

Before he could really give it much thought, Kourai was moving forward until his face was only a few centimeters from the other’s. Shouyou felt Kourai’s breath on his face and opened his eyes, smile softening. His hand went to the back of Kourai’s neck and pulled him in.

The kiss lasted a few seconds, but in that time Kourai felt his stomach implode in the best way possible and then catch fire all over again. It was slow and soft, and when Shouyou moved away Kourai wished it had lasted much longer, his mouth trailing after the other’s for a moment.

“I like you a lot, Kourai,” Shouyou mumbled, their foreheads bumping together. His face was cherry-red.

Kourai’s eyes met Shouyou’s. “I think I waited just a little too long, Shouyou.” He pulled him back in.

He was melting in the sun.

The whistle blew sounding the end of the practice match. The Adlers won, 25-23, 24-26, 29-27. Kourai’s grin was wide as he caught Shouyou’s eye from across the court. Shouyou stuck his tongue out playfully.

At the bench, Kourai checked the time on his phone to see if there was a chance to grab dinner before heading home.

“Oh? What’s this?” Hirugami’s voice sounded from behind him and Kourai’s head whipped around. “Hinata’s your phone background now?”

The rest of the team’s heads turned toward the two of them. Kourai wanted to be irritated at his nosy captain, really, but the sight of Shouyou’s face on his phone screen quelled the snappy retort he would’ve given any other time, and he could only smile cheekily. “Yeah!”

Hirugami chuckled. “Good job figuring it out,” he congratulated.

“Huh?” Kageyama’s confused voice broke through the sounds of the gym. “What?”

Shouyou chose that moment to bound up to Kourai and put his hands on his shoulders, jumping up excitedly. “Kourai! I’ll be waiting for our next match!”

Kourai grinned. “Me too,” he declared, grabbing Shouyou’s hand as it slid off his shoulder and clasping his fingers between his own.

Shouyou turned to Kageyama, never one to leave a friend out. “I’ll beat you next time too!”

Kageyama only nodded. You could almost see the gears turning in his head as he glanced at the clasped hands. Kourai rolled his eyes and turned, pressing his lips to his boyfriend’s cheek. “Dinner?”

Shouyou beamed. “You’re on!” He started pulling Kourai towards the exit. “Bye guys, good match!”

Kourai saw Ushijima say something to Kageyama out of the corner of his eye as he turned around. The setter’s mouth fell open in shock. Kourai laughed and pulled Shouyou to a stop at the gym doors. He wrapped his arms around the other’s waist and kissed him fully on the mouth. Shouyou’s hand moved up to his face, cupping his jaw. They pulled back after a few seconds.

“I’m glad I waited,” Kourai said softly.

Shouyou’s smile fed the fire.

**Author's Note:**

> i was really excited to write this so hopefully it's halfway decent sdghdbf
> 
> kudos and comments are hella appreciated, also if anyone wants to come scream at me on tumblr about hoshihina PLEASE do, my anime blog is @mysonisthesun
> 
> thank you for reading! <3


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